Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia (MSO) shares are climbing as the company is reportedly engaged in merger talks with Sequential Brands (SQBG).

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia (MSO) shares spiked in afternoon trading, closing the day up 26.47% to $6.45, following reports that the global lifestyle company was nearing a deal to be acquired by Sequential Brands (SQBG), according to the Wall Street Journal.

Terms are currently being discussed, according to Journal sources, but are not available although deal could be announced in the coming days.

Sequential Brands is a consumer brand company that owns such clothing imprints as Ellen Tracy, Heelys and William Rast.

Sequential Brands shares closed trading up 12.47% to $16.05 today.

TheStreet Ratings team rates MARTHA STEWART LIVING OMNIMD as a Hold with a ratings score of C-. TheStreet Ratings Team has this to say about their recommendation:

"We rate MARTHA STEWART LIVING OMNIMD (MSO) a HOLD. The primary factors that have impacted our rating are mixed some indicating strength, some showing weaknesses, with little evidence to justify the expectation of either a positive or negative performance for this stock relative to most other stocks. The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its increase in net income, largely solid financial position with reasonable debt levels by most measures and expanding profit margins. However, as a counter to these strengths, we also find weaknesses including disappointing return on equity and weak operating cash flow."

Highlights from the analysis by TheStreet Ratings Team goes as follows:

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